The Traveler
by C.E. Bradford
Summary: A 26 year old searches for the truth of her GreatGrandmothers disapperance. Along with the help of her faithful 'Boyfriend'.


Bradford Publishing Company

The Traveler

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** C.E Bradford**

**11/24/2007**

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**Prologue**

** "I'm leaving you Mother." "Why dear?" "Because you never told me the secret to my past. I'll discover it on my own." "Good luck dear."**

'That was ten years ago. It's my ten year anniversary for leaving Mother. And to think I left her alone on Christmas Eve. What nerve I had when I was sixteen. I'm so ashamed. And I should be. She must be so lonely tonight.' Thought Elana. Then someone interrupted her thoughts. "Hello Miss. It's a bit cold to be out by yourself on Christmas Eve. Don't you think?" "I guess so." "Would you mind if I joined you?" "No. Of course not." "Thank you Miss."

"So kind Sir, do you have a name?" asked Elana "But of course! My name is Tyler. Do _you_ have a name?" "Yes. My name is Elana. "That's a beautiful name." "Thank you." Elana said while blushing. "My father named me after my Great-Grandmother Elana. Who disappeared mysteriously. Course, she's dead by now." "Oh. That's too bad. So why are you here instead of with family?" "I left my Mother ten years ago when I was sixteen." "Why?" "To discover my ancestors past. By ancestor I mean my Great-Grandmother." "Oh. I see. Would you like to join me at my house for Christmas Eve?" "Oh, I don't know. I have other places I need to be tomorrow." "Oh c'mon it'll be fun." "Well alright."

"Um, Tyler. Where do you live?" asked Elana "On Van Buren Avenue. Why?" "It's just that. My Mother lives on Van Buren Avenue." "What's your last name?" "Burhan." "You are Ms. Burhan's daughter!?" "Shhh. Not so loud. How do you know her?" "She's my next door neighbor." "What?"

"Hello Tyler! How are you this Christmas Eve?" asked Ms. Burhan "I'm good Ms. Burhan. Thank you." "Tyler." Said Elana "Oh, I see you've reeled in another one Tyler. This one is pretty. She reminds me of my daughter Elana." "Tyler can we go in now? It's getting cold." Said Elana "Yes." "Have a good night you two!"

"That was close." Sighed Elana. "I'll start a fire. It is cold." "You have a nice house Tyler." "Thank you!" he yelled from the other room. "It's getting warmer. It certainly doesn't take that fire long to get going." "Well I have nice dry wood." "That's good." Replied Elana "Yeah. Especially on Christmas Eve. It warms the Soul. Have a seat." "Thank you Tyler." "So tell me about yourself." Said Tyler "Well, I was born in New Jersey. But then my father died when I was eight. So we moved here to Corvallis." "Ah." "How long have you lived here?" "Since I was seven. In this house, since I was seven."

"Since you were seven!?" said Elana "My Father died when I was eighteen. My mother divorced my father. So I was left alone. I decided to stay here." "Oh. That's interesting. Did you ever go to college?" "I did. I majored in ELA." "What about you?" "For two years. I majored in History." "Of course. Would you like to stay the night?" "No I couldn't." "C'mon. No one should be alone on Christmas Eve." "Well I guess I could."

"Have you had dinner yet?" "No. But it's a little late." "Nonsense! It's never too late to have dinner with friends! What would you like? How about Ham?" "I don't that much time!" "I mean like packaged Ham!" "Oh! Okay. I can do that." "Knuckle head."

"Your dinner is served Madame." "Tyler. Thank you." "You're welcome. Is this seat taken?" points to the chair next to Elana. "No good Sir. That seat is not taken." "Then I think I'll just sit here." "Go ahead."

"This Ham is very good Tyler." "Why thank you. I don't hear that too often." "Why not?" "I don't have company over too much." "You seem like the kind of person to have a good many friends." "I don't really have many friends." "Why not?" "Between you and me. I'm quite shy." "Bwahahaha! Y-you shy!? Yeah right! Heck you came right up to me. That isn't shy." "Oh, be quiet."

"That was a good dinner Tyler." Said Elana "Thank you!" he replied "So where can I sleep?" asked Elana "You can sleep in my room!" "Tyler. We just met." "Not in my bed! On the floor." "That's better."

"That's it. Just get comfortable." Said Tyler "Tyler. I know what I'm doing." "Okay, okay."

At 5AM, Tyler snuck out of the house. He went to the shopping center and got Elana a present. He came back at 6AM. Elana was still asleep. So he put the present under the tree.

"Elana. Elana. ELANA!" yelled Tyler "What!" "Come out to the living room with me." "Why?" "There is something out under the tree for you." "What?" "Just come with me." "Okay."

Elana ripped open the gift. Inside was beautiful Jade necklace with Love written on it in Japanese Kanji. "Oh Tyler it's beautiful!" said Elana. She threw her arms around him and gave him big hug. Then she gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed. "You are such a good friend!"

While Elana was giving Tyler a kiss on the cheek, Ms. Burhan walked in. "Oh, my. Am I interrupting?" "M-Ms. Burhan. What are you doing here?" "Tyler, I always come over Christmas morning." "Oh yeah." 'I'm doomed.' He thought "Oh, is this your new girlfriend?" "Girlfriend!? No, you got it all wrong. We're just friends!" exclaimed Elana "You remind me of my daughter." "That's because I am your daughter!" "No you can't be. Elana was always freaked out by Tyler. On a count of he liked her in grade school." Said Ms. Burhan "What?" said Elana "Hehe. You see it's a long story." "I don't want to hear it. Mother I am your daughter. I left you when I was sixteen. On Christmas Eve." "You are my daughter. Elana. And here I thought you would never go out with Tyler!" "We're not going out!"

"Elana I've missed you so much." Said Ms. Burhan. "Yes, well I'm leaving on the 1st of January." Said Elana "Why?" asked Tyler "To go to Michigan where my Great-Grandmother was born." "Can I come?" asked Tyler "You need to buy your own plane ticket." "Is the seat next to yours taken?" "No." "Okey-Dokey!"

"So for the next six days will you stay with me?" "Yes. Of course I will Tyler! But do I have to sleep on the floor?" "You can sleep on the couch." "It's better than the floor."

January 1st…… "C'mon Tyler! We're gonna miss our flight!" yelled Elana "I'm coming!" "There's our gate! C'mon!" "I'm here!" "Phew. We made it. Let's go to Marquette!"

"I call window seat!" said Elana "Aw. I wanted the window seat." "You snooze you lose Tyler." "All well. At least we get to sit next to each other." "Sure." "C'mon you know you love me!" "Of course I do Tyler." "I know you do."

Three hours later… "Tyler we're here." "Finally. My legs were gonna fall off." "Oh, stop complaining. Now let's go."

"Okay. We're here. Now what do we do?" asked Tyler "We find someone to take us into town." "Oh. I knew that!" "Sure you did. Hey there's my Grandfather! Hi Grandpa!" "Hello there Elana!" Rasped her Grandfather "Who's this? Is this your husband?" "No. He is my friend." Said Elana "So can you take us to Great-Grandmother Elana's house?" asked Elana "Of course I can."

"This place is a wreck." Said Tyler "Nobody's been in it for about twenty-seven years." Rasped Grandpa "That was when she disappeared." "A year before you were born." Added Tyler "I can do math." Said Elana "I know!" said Tyler "Grandpa, do you know what she was like when she was a child?" "I knew her in grade school. She was two years ahead of me. She loved to explore, that girl. The year before she disappeared she traveled to the Northern Territory up by the border of Alaska." "Why?" asked Elana "To explore the tundra. And see if she could run into any Eskimo tribes. She was to spend a year there. But she never came back."

"Thanks for the info Grandpa! We're off to the Northern Territory!" yelled Elana "We are?" asked Tyler "Of course we are! I need to find out what happened to my Great-Grandmother." "How did I know you were going to say that?" "I don't know."

"How do you plan on getting there?" asked Tyler "We'll fly up as far as we can. Then we'll probably snowmobile the rest of the way." "Oh. How long will this take?" "Who knows? There's our flight! Let's go!"

"That didn't take as long as the first flight." Said Tyler "Of course it didn't. It wasn't as far." "I knew that." "Mm hm. Sure you did. There's a map."

"Let's see to travel the _entire_ Alaskan border, it will take about ten days. We'll need to get some supplies." Said Elana "Well duh." Said Tyler "Don't make me feel stupid." "But it's fun!" "Oh, Tyler."

"Let's hit the snow!" said Tyler "Yes let's! Alaskan border here we come!" "Wait! Miss!" "Who was that?" asked Tyler "How should I know." "Did you say you were searching for information on Mrs. Elana Burhan?" "Yes, we are." "Before you leave I need to tell you that she came back, and went off to Tokyo." "What?" "Yes. She went off to Tokyo." "Awesome!" Elana turns and gives Tyler a stern look. "What? I've always wanted to go to Tokyo."

"I'm going to end up spending so much money on this trip." Said Elana "Well you know, if you marry me, you'll have twice as much money." "Tyler. This isn't a time to joke." "Hey, I actually want to go to Tokyo."

They reached Tokyo at about 3:30 AM, Pacific coast time. "I can't believe we've made three flights in two days." Said Elana "Hey let's ask that dude over there if he knows Mrs. Elana Burhan." "Okay."

"Konichiwa sir. We're searching for Mrs. Elana Burhan. Have you seen her?" "Yes I have. But not since she left for Iceland." "Great. We get to go to Iceland." Said Tyler.

"Four flights." "Seriously. If you married me you would have more money." "Tyler. I know you're not joking. You _want_ to marry me. You _still_ like me." "Elana. Are you okay?" "No! I'm fine!" "Let's stay the night somewhere. Okay?" "Fine."

"But first, let's stop to get a drink." Said Elana "What!? Well it would relieve _some_ stress. Okay."

So they stopped to get a drink. But Elana had more than one. She had enough to get a little crazy.

"There's only one bed." Said Tyler "I don't want to sleep on the floor again!" Spluttered Elana "I'll sleep on the floor." Said Tyler "No no. You can sleep in bed with me." "But you basically said you didn't like me." "I was tired and stressed then. Just keep your pants on." "Will do."

The next day… "Let's go find someone who knows Elana." Said Elana "Alright." "But before that. I want to talk about what happened yesterday." "It's okay." "No. It's not okay. I was tired and stressed. And I didn't mean a word I said last night at the airport." "So you do like me." "As a friend."

"Excuse me Miss. But have you heard the name Mrs. Elana Burhan before?" asked Elana "I have. I haven't heard that name in long time. Last time I saw her, she was boarding a plane." "Could you tell us where she was going?" asked Tyler "She was going south to Victoria's lake, in Africa." "Thank you Miss." Said Elana "We're just going from one continent to the next, aren't we?" said Tyler

"This is Victoria's Lake? It's huge!" exclaimed Tyler "It's one of the biggest lakes in the world! What did you expect!?" "Elana Burhan. I thought you were dead." "Of course I'm not dead. I'm only twenty-six." "You must be Elana Burhan's Great-Granddaughter." "I am. Who are you?" "I'm Chuck. I knew Elana as a child. I mean, as _I_ was a child." "Oh. Where did she go after here?" "To Brazil I believe." "Great. Another long plane flight." Sighed Tyler

"Ah, Brazil. The land of the Rain Forest. The land of monkeys. The land of Mosquitoes." Said Tyler "You can say that again." Replied Elana "Oh, a local. Maybe they've heard of Elana." Said Tyler "Excuse me, sir. Have you ever heard of Elana Burhan?" "Elana? I knew her. She moved to Paris France though." "Ah, Paris. The city of romance." Said Tyler "We should get married there!" he added "You sure are persistent." Said Elana

"Why don't we spend a few nights here?" asked Tyler "We can. I've always wanted to visit Paris." Said Elana "_Every time_ I look into those sparkly blue eyes of yours I feel like I'm falling into a calm pool of water. I fall more in love with you every day." Said Tyler "What?" "I knew who you were that night. I was always too shy to ask you to be my girlfriend in Middle and High School." 'This is strange. Something's going on in his head.' Thought Elana.

"How long do you want to stay in France, Tyler?" "As long as you want to." "Well, let's find out where she went to and leave. Okay?" "Okay."

"Excuse me. But are you Elana Burhan's Great-Granddaughter?"said a stranger "I am." "Well I knew her. She went back to her home town. Of Marquette." "What." "Yeah." "We came here for nothing." Elana said

Back in Michigan…. "You knew where she was along. Didn't you Grandpa?" "I did. I… I mean _we_ thought you should figure it out on your own." "We?" "Your parents and I." "She knew all along. Where is she buried?" "Out in the woods. That's where she always wanted to be buried." "C'mon Tyler. We're going to visit Mrs. Elana Burhan." "Okay." Sighed Tyler

"So this is where she was all along." "Yup." "Not so much of a mystery." "Nope." "Thanks for standing by my side the whole way through Tyler." "Of course. I would never turn my back on my future wife. Between you and me. That necklace was your engagement jewel." "You're joking right?" "No. I'm serious. For once." "Well then. The answer is yes." "Seriously!?" "I _never_ joke."

One year later… "I'm home Elana! And how's my little baby to be?" "She's kicking a lot." "What should we name her?" asked Tyler "How about Abby. After my mother." "That's a good name."

"You should be proud of yourself. You discovered how Great-Grandmother Elana disappeared." "Yes but now I've earned myself a nickname." "What's that?" "The Traveler."


End file.
